In the drilling and completion industry, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluid is common. The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and alternatively for CO2 sequestration. A liner is a tubular member that is usually run inside of a borehole casing of the borehole and suspended within the casing. Liner packers and liner hangers are commonly used together to seal the liner to the outer casing. The liner hanger acts as an anchor during the process of setting the packer seals. Mechanically or hydraulically set slips of the liner hanger are used to effectively interconnect the liner hanger to the casing. As the slips move radially outwardly, the toothed surfaces of the slips bitingly engage the inner wall surface of the casing.
Typical liner packer seals incorporate elastomers at the seal interface. The material selected for the packer seal must take into consideration the caustic fluids, high temperatures and high pressures that are encountered in a downhole environment so as to prevent premature seal degradation. In addition, as time, manpower requirements, and mechanical maintenance issues are all variable factors that can significantly influence the cost effectiveness and productivity of a downhole operation, the art would be receptive to improved apparatus and methods for increasing the rate of expansion of a liner packer without deleteriously affecting the sustainability of the liner packer in the downhole environment.